this output has three parts: (1) teams listed by RATING top-to-bottom&nbsp (2) DIVISION AVERAGES&nbsp (listed top-to-bottom & by conference)&nbsp (3) teams listed by DIVISION&nbsp (listed in order within divisions)

The SCHEDULE ratings represent what the rating would have to be for ahypothetical team to have a mathematical expectation of winning precisely 50%of their games against the schedule played by the team in question in the gamesthat it has played so far. The schedule difficulty of each given game takesinto account the rating of the opponent and the location of the game. Thisis the same concept that is used in computing the WIN50% conference ratings.

&nbspTo make predictions for upcoming games, simply compare the RATINGS of&nbspthe teams in question and allow an ADDITIONAL 3 points for the home&nbspteam. Thus, for example, a HOME team with a rating of 27 would be&nbspfavored by 5 points over a VISITING team having a rating of 25.&nbspOr a VISITING team with a rating of 24 would be favored by 7 points&nbspover a HOME team having a rating of 14.

NOTE: Use whatever home advantage is listed in the output below.&nbsp In the example just above, a home edge of 3 was shown for&nbsp illustrative purposes. The home edge will vary during the season.

The numbers to the right of a team's schedule strength are its rank ofschedule - (in parentheses) - and its record versus teams in theserating's CURRENT top 10&nbspand CURRENT top 16&nbsprespectively.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In ELO CHESS, only winning&nbspand losing&nbspmatters; the score margin&nbspis of no consequence,which makes it very "politically correct". However it is less accurate&nbspin its predictions&nbspforupcoming games&nbspthan is the PURE POINTS, in which the score margin&nbspis the only thing&nbspthat matters.PURE POINTS&nbspis also known as PREDICTOR, BALLANTINE, RHEINGOLD, WHITE OWL&nbspand is the best single PREDICTORof future games.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The overall RATING&nbspis a synthesis&nbspof the two diametrical opposites, ELO CHESS&nbspand PURE POINTS (PREDICTOR).NFL ratings will be updated&nbspafter games of Sunday&nbspand again&nbspafter the Monday night game.

Divisional Rankings

There are three group ratings, the "central mean", the"simple average"&nbsp(also known as the "arithmetic mean",)and the WIN50%.The "central mean"&nbspgives the most weight to the middle team(s)in the group and progressively less weight to teams as you goaway from the middle in either direction, up or down.This tends to smooth out the effect of anomalous teams that are ratedmuch higher and lower than the middle team(s) in the group. The"simple average" ("arithmetic mean")&nbspweights each team equallyno matter where they are relative to the middle.Here are a few examples of how the "central mean"&nbspis computed.&nbsp 4-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-2-1&nbsp 5-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-2-1&nbsp 6-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-3-2-1&nbsp 7-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-3-2-1&nbsp 8-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1&nbsp 9-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1&nbsp10-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1&nbsp11-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-1&nbsp12-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-5-6-6-5-4-3-2-1&nbsp13-team group ___ the weights are 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1This is an expanded version of the "tri-mean".

The WIN50%&nbspis the rating required to win 50% of the games if playing aninfinite number of round-robins in the given group at a neutral location.